The day I...... Had my jaw broken by a Rodney Grinter coathanger. Terry Wallace's painful memory.
By David Reed
The Age
April 15, 2006
IT WAS in the 10th minute of the first quarter of round two in the 1988 season, on a half-back flank.
I remember Greg Eppelstun getting possession of the ball in the back pocket, and me breaking to the flank. The kick sat up for an eternity, longer than I expected it to. Then there was the collision.
I wasn't knocked out, so I was well aware of a lot of pain and trauma. I knew there was some serious damage. Probably the scariest thing was that because I fractured the mandible (lower jaw), it had flattened on to my tongue and I thought I'd bitten my tongue off. I couldn't move my tongue or feel it.
I also knocked out my front two teeth. They were sitting horizontal in my mouth. I lacerated my lips so badly that I ended up having 60 or 70 stitches inside and out.
The first kid that arrived at the scene was young Mark Cullen. He actually picked me up, had a look and dropped me again!
I gathered I looked a gruesome sight because of the reaction of anyone who saw me.
I actually played the next week. It was my first year at the Bulldogs and I was told it was a 12-week injury. I reckoned if I had missed 12 weeks my career was in jeopardy, so I chose to play with all the braces in place. I also had upper and lower mouthguards. I played reasonable footy that year and that incident was something that really got me ingrained at the Bulldogs, because people could see that you were fair dinkum about it.
I don't think it had any negative effects on my career, but I had ongoing problems for years. I had vertigo for a decade after the injury simply from the trauma. Doctors said the collision was like a car accident. The player got suspended for six matches.
What did all the damage was that he was wearing a plaster guard on his thumb and he has hit me going full bore. It was like having a rock in his hand.
Even this week I had to have the crown replaced on my front tooth. I only have stumps there now. So I am still getting dental repairs this far down the line. That was the game in those days. It was dealt with by the officials and you get on with life.
INTERVIEW BY DAVID REED
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/04/14/1144521504650.html
